Supported Employment Services

Procurement reference

DN773576

Procurement description

This Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is not a call for competition. It is being published to consult the market and give notice of an upcoming procurement anticipated for release in August 2025.

Dorset Council is undertaking preliminary market engagement, with the aim of requesting feedback from supported employment providers, to hear views, and coproduce how the service could be delivered. The service delivery would commence on 1st of April 2026.

Dorset Council anticipate that the contract will run for an initial period of 2 years, with 3 x optional 12-month extension periods, giving a total of 5 years. The £900K total contract value, includes all possible 3 x 1-year extensions. Please note that these extensions are optional and so this total value is not guaranteed.

Potential bidders are all encouraged to register on the Central Digital Platform, as well as the Council's e-tendering portal, Supplying the South West - please follow this link to this opportunity: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=e71cea6a-914b-f011-8138-005056b64545&p=696a9836-1895-e511-8105-000c29c9ba21

GENERAL NOTES

Any procurement for the supply and services required by the Council will be carried out strictly in accordance with Procurement Regulations.

This Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is not a call for competition and is published with the intention of informing the market of an upcoming procurement process.

Dorset Council reserves the right not to commence any procurement in respect of this notice.

Dorset Council shall not be liable for any losses incurred by any party as a result of reliance on the information contained/linked herein.

The information contained in this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is preliminary in nature and may be subject to further amendment and revision. Accordingly, no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is being made and no liability is, or will be, accepted by the Council at any time as to the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of the contents of this notice. Any liability however arising is expressly disclaimed.

No expense in responding to this soft market testing will be reimbursed by the Council.

Main category

Services

Total value (estimated)

750000 GBP Excluding VAT

900000 GBP Including VAT

Contract dates (estimated)

01 April 2026, 01:00AM to 01 April 2028, 00:59AM

Extension end date (if all the extensions are used): 01 April 2031

Dorset Council

Is the total value above threshold?

Above threshold

CPV classifications

• 80400000 - Adult and other education services
• 85000000 - Health and social work services

Contract start date (estimated)

01 April 2026, 01:00AM

Contract end date (estimated)

01 April 2028, 00:59AM

Extension end date (estimated)

01 April 2031, 00:59AM

Can the contract be extended?

Yes

Engagement process description

Dorset Council is undertaking a preliminary market engagement event, with the aim of requesting feedback from the supported employment provider market.

The soft market testing exercise is intended to allow interested organisations with appropriate experience to express an interest in the opportunity and to outline their views and ideas about the future provision of these services, specifically in the following areas:

• What works well in your area?

• What barriers do we need to consider going forward?

• What will make our service a success?

We invite relevant companies and organisations to join us at a Preliminary Market Engagement Event on Wednesday 9th of July of 2025 at 2pm-3pm so that we can explore best practice and service design. To register your interest and to receive a MS Teams invite to the market engagement event, please send an email to adultscommissioningteam@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 5pm on Tuesday the 8th of July 2025.

If your organisation is unable to attend the event but would like a copy of the slides, please also email adultscommissioningteam@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk to express an interest.

Due date

10 July 2025, 00:59AM

Has the engagement period already ended?

No

Publication date of tender notice (estimated)

22 August 2025